The Hamilton Bulldogs are going to the Memorial Cup.
Hamilton rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the third period to beat the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 5-4 and win the Ontario Hockey League championship in six games.
Dogs defenceman Riley Stillman tied the game 3-3 at 8:28 of the third period, and Robert Thomas netted the go-ahead goal 3:02 later to give Hamilton its first lead of the game.
Nicholas Caamano put the Bulldogs up 5-3 when he scored into an empty net with 1:58 left in regulation.
Hamilton’s Kaden Fulcher stopped 40 shots in the win while Greyhounds goalie Matthew Villalta stopped 32 shots.
The 8,663 fans in attendance at FirstOntario Centre erupted in celebration when the final horn sounded.
Thomas won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL playoffs MVP after leading the Bulldogs with 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 21 games.
Hamilton will play the opening game of the 100th Memorial Cup against the host Regina Pats this Friday night at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan has also booked a spot in the Memorial Cup, as have the Western Hockey League champion Swift Current Broncos.
The Soo’s Cole MacKay opened the scoring at 11:57 of the opening period and teammate Boris Katchouk doubled the lead 3:10 into the second frame.
Sault Ste. Marie nearly made it 3-0, but Fulcher stoned Katchouk on a breakaway and moments later Brandon Saigeon scored on a breakaway of his own at 8:55 of the middle period to get the Bulldogs on the board.
MacKenzie Entwhistle tied the game at two goals apiece when he buried a wrist shot past Villalta with 2:23 to play in the second stanza.
However, Barrett Hayton restored the Soo’s one goal lead when he netted a power play goal with 1:07 left in the second period.
Stillman rifled in the tying goal with a slap shot from just outside the right faceoff circle, before Thomas’s backhanded wraparound found the back of the net.
Caamano’s empty netter gave Hamilton some breathing room until Jordan Sambrook beat Fulcher with 45 seconds left in regulation.
But time ran out on the Soo Greyhounds, the top team in the country, and it was bedlam at FirstOntario Centre.
This marks the first time in the history of the three year old Hamilton Bulldogs that the team will play in the Memorial Cup.
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